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Sunday, September 22, 2013

Understanding Gamefish By Temperature Pt1

We all know and understand that fish are cold blooded animals. However despite this fact we as fisherman and women must understand that fish are often divided by biologist into three different categories: warm water fish, cool water fish and cold water fishes.

Right now I'm only gonna talk about one group and that is the warm water game fish group. This group of fish which includes a large group of panfish and catfish prefer water in a range from 70 to 80 degrees fahrenheit.

As anglers we must all understand that the temperature preferences of our quarry is only one piece of the puzzle that helps us locate and effectively fish for them. Remember fish must eat and many of their movements are dictated by their forage at that moment.

As well seasonal temperature changes will adjust the behaviors of many of these warm water fishes as many of them live in waters that seasonally ice over. For example catfish readily live in lakes that ice over however during this time of colder than preferred temps their metabolisms slow and they become less aggressive and active in order to survive the colder temperatures.

On another note many of the larger warm water game fish begin to spend more time in colder water as they age and get larger. So remember, understanding the temperature preferences of game fish is just one valuable piece of the puzzle to making a better angler.

Next weeks post will cover cool water gamefish and the following week will cover cold water fish. So Stay Tuned!

4 comments:

Not really. What I'm saying is that fish have temperatures that they thrive better at and prefer. Remember though this is just one piece of the puzzle when figuring fish out. If you can figure out their temperature preferences then you can figure out a general depth they prefer for certain times of year. Combine this information with what they are foraging on and you're on your way to understanding whatever gamefish you're targeting.